Photos and Video: Peregrine Falcon on Fire Island

By Mike Busch

On Sunday morning while waiting for Sunrise at Smith Point Beach, I noticed a dark silhouette in the distance perched on a branch about a 1/4 mile to the west. As I slowly made my way closer, I realized right away it was a Peregrine Falcon. This one of my favorite birds of prey and considered one of the fastest creatures on Earth, reaching speeds over 200 m.p.h. as they dive-bomb small to medium-sized birds. Dianne Taggart has a nice write-up on the Peregrine Falcon here.

As I slowly approached the bird I noticed he was extremely dirty and soaking wet. I can only guess he might have had a wild night, perhaps rolling through the wet underbrush going after a meal. He didn’t seem to care about me and just continued to preen his feathers and try to shake the water off in the morning Sun. After taking way too many shots I left him where I found him, happy he wasn’t bothered by the company.

Sorry about the shaky video, I didn’t have a tripod but used slow motion to make it a little more watchable.